The military aid for Ukraine is growing and being coordinated by the Pentagon in order to concentrate focusing efforts of the Allies to support Ukraine in the war against Russia.
At the same time, the volume of provided weapons is constantly growing and its range is expanding, which already includes large-caliber artillery, e.g. French self-propelled artillery systems CAESAR and high-precision projectiles M982 Excalibur.
Read more: UK Sends AS90 Howitzers and Shells to Ukraine to Crush Russian Troops
No doubt, any military aid cannot harm the defense capabilities of the donor countries themselves, which can provide a very limited amount of weapons from their "combat duty".
That is why Defense Express has decided to find out what armor is available in stock of NATO depots.
The following information taken from Military Balance as of 2021 covers the army reserves. However, it should be emphasized that this category of weapons is quite difficult to take into consideration, so the data may be incomplete. Especially when the Ministry of Defense removes warehouse stocks for sale of writes them off.
NATO tanks and armored vehicles stocks
Attempts to get Leopard 1 tanks from Rheinmetall defense plant are well-known. The combat effectiveness of these tanks which are armed with a 105-mm cannon is quite a questionable topic. At the same time, there are 78 units of Leopard 2A4 in the Bundeswehr's warehouses. This type of the German tank is the most common in the world and was carried out in 1985-1992.
In addition to 78 units in Germany, 16 more of Leopard 2A4 tanks are in Norway's storage facilities. As a result, in total there are 94 units of Leopard 2A4, which is enough to arm a tank brigade of three tank battalions.
At the same time, in the United States there are 3,700 units of Abrams A1 and A2 versions. These tanks were manufactured from 1985 to 1992, and the Abrams M1A2 is the base version for all upgrades in service with the US Army.
In comparison, Canada's stocks in 52 old Leopard 1C2s and even 2,000 Turkish "veterans" M48A5 Patton T1. At the same time, such countries as the Czech Republic and Slovenia have already sent their T-72 tanks and their Yugoslav version of the M-84 where they are most needed.
Stocks of NATO tanks in warehouses
USA: Abrams M1A1 / A2 – 3700 units
Germany: Leopard 2A4 – 78 units
Norway: Leopard 2A4 – 16 units
Slovenia: M-84 – 32+ units
Czech Republic: T-72 – 89 units
Turkey: M48A5 T1 – 2000 units
Canada: Leopard 1C2 – 52 units
Talking about infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, US stocks are again absolutely ultimate. These are about 2.8 thousand units of Bradley in the version of the BMP and reconnaissance vehicle, as well as 8 thousand tracked armored personnel carriers M113A2/A3.
At the same time, it is already known that 200 M113 units have been sent to Ukraine from the United States as part of their military aid. The available known stocks in European countries don’t play a significant role, taking into consideration US stocks numbers.
Stocks of NATO infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers in warehouses
USA: M113A2/A3 – 8000+ units
USA: M2 Bradley – 2000+ units
USA: M3 Bradley – 800+ units
Czech Republic: BMP-1 – 98 units
Czech Republic: BMP-2 – 65 units
Netherlands: CV9035NL – 32+ units
NATO large-caliber artillery reserves
So far, the artillery units provided exceed the most optimistic expectations. At the same time, the stockpiles of various artillery systems are also important, although obsolete weapons end up being in warehouses. However, there are some very interesting exceptions.
For example, the Netherlands has over 38 units of PzH 2000 that the country once bought from Germany. Effective firing range is 36 km, but with improved ballistics it’s about 47 km. So, in the context of counter-battery fight against the russian occupiers they are priceless.
But in any case, the main stocks of SPG in NATO countries are the well-known US M109 SPG. In the US itself, they have about 500 units in the M109A6 type, other 24 units are obsolete M109A3GN in Norway.
NATO SPG stocks in warehouses
USA: M109A6 – 500 units
Netherlands: PzH 2000 – 38+ units
Norway: M109A3GN – 24 units
It should also be noted that in the Military Balance as of 2021 there are 152mm Czech Dana ShKH vz.77 self-propelled guns, but for some reason it makes no sense to do so.
Defense Express notes, that the specified number of machines in stock cannot be precise.
Firstly, vehicles in the warehouses can still be a source of spare parts for combat vehicles.
Secondly, some of these reserves, particularly in the United States, belong to the "operational reserve" that is deployed in case of a "big war".
Also, some countries transfer armament which is already in reserve, but isn’t listed as such in the Military Balance.
But we must be sure of the quality of these warehouse vehicles. In contrast to the russian federation, where equipment is stored in such way that trees grow through the vehicles, western attitude to military property is completely different.
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